Jakarta, IO – A 7-year-old student at State Junior High School No.2 Pringsurat committed a daring act to burn down his school in Temanggung regency, Central Java, Tuesday (27/6).
Identified by his initial R, he claimed he did it because he was being bullied by his friends and did not appreciated by his teacher, per Kompas, Monday (2/7).
Temanggung Police chief Agus Puryadi said R had harbored the grudge for an extended period of time and decided to vent out.
He prepared an object similar to a Molotov cocktail made from used bottle and tested it first behind his house. Then he threw the projectile to set his classroom ablaze.
“R has been named a suspect based on a number of evidence collected at the scene as well as from the school’s CCTV footage,” said Agus. “We will examine his mental state to find out more about his motivation.”
According to the school’s principal Bejo Pranoto, while R was not deemed a mischievous boy he often sought attentions from his friends and teachers at school.
In response to the incident, the United Federation of Indonesian Teachers (FSGI) opined that the school should make more efforts to understand his psychological condition, instead of pushing him to the corner.
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“The school’s statement that sought to portray him as an attention-seeking child is counterproductive,” said FSGI Expert Council head Retno Listyarti.
She said all forms of bullying in educational institutions should be condemned. “Instilling discipline in children doesn’t have to be done through corporal punishment, because violence will have a bad impact on the child’s behavior and their subsequent development,” said Retno. (un)